Final Key For the Red Sox Playoff Run

Just over a month until the first pitch will be thrown for spring training and players will need to prove they are worthy of their team. Playoffs are months away but from day 1 it seems like every team in the AL East will need to be 100% focused if they plan on going past the 162 game season. For the past few years now the slogan of each year is becoming "The Year of the Pitcher" and I believe that is going to happen again this year. All teams are finding young strong pitchers to give them the power they need. At this point the Red Sox look to be starting Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, John Lackey and Ryan Dempster. Being healthy has clearly not been one of the Sox greatest strengths the past few years which means that if one of these players get injured or their performance falls dramatically the Red Sox have very little to rely on. My answer to this is one more offseason pickup that could be the key to the offseason. Ladies and gentleman, I bring you Kyle Lohse. Kyle Lohse was the top of the 2012 Cardinals rotation and I believe would fit perfectly in the middle making Felix Doubront the fall back injury guy or if one of the starters is having a bad few games put Felix in for a try. His last two years spent in St. Louis have been golden for him combining for 30 wins and only 11 loses. 11 losses.... sounds like he 2012 loss record for multiple Red Sox pitchers in just 1 year!

Why he is financially right:

Lohse last 4 year contract with the Cardinals was for $41 million which is about $10 million a year. Red Sox can do that no problem. I believe the Red Sox should offer Lohse a 4 year contract (He will be 38 by then) for approx. $50 million as he has very much improved since signing his previous contract. 4 years is not a short term deal but at the same time it does not get the Sox locked up in another Carl Crawford contract that we will never get anything out of.

Less than 1 month till Spring Training... it's too late:

No it's not too late! Lohse has sat on the free agency for a few months now and I bet he is prepared to sign a contract somewhere and that place is Boston! Official Red Sox reporter Ian Browne of MLB.com said:

"I think there's a good chance the Red Sox could add another pitcher before camp opens. If there's one spot where they look a little light, it's starting depth. Teams can't go into camp with a projected five-man rotation. You really need to go in with about an eight-man rotation to cover yourself in case of injuries."

This echoes my statement above in which 5 starters isn't enough. To be a playoff team in baseball you need to have 5 clutch starters as long as extras to get their back and with the signing of Lohse the Red Sox will get their extras. With all the injuries happening to teams these extra guys become necessary. He is not going to make the Red Sox have the best starting rotation out there but gives us diversity. Having Lester and Buchholz both in their late 20s having an older pitcher like Lohse in his prime will help bring the whole rotation all back together.

AL East rotations are going to be strong and bring Lohse to Boston will help the Sox hopefully get back on their feet with another strong pitcher.

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